'Fast and Furious' feud still in full effect: Dwayne Johnson skips cast reunion at opening of new ride

Over the course of eight installments, the Fast and the Furious franchise has grossed more than $5.1 billion globally. No surprise, then, that fans remain exceedingly interested in getting as close to the automotive action as possible — which they can do today, courtesy of a new Universal Studios Orlando ride that was opened by many of the film’s stars … with one notable exception.

Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson’s rift with Vin Diesel became highly publicized in the lead-up to last year’s The Fate of the Furious, and his full-steam-ahead plans to headline a series spinoff opposite Jason Statham (Hobbs and Shaw, directed by Deadpool 2’s David Leitch) has likely not quelled their beef. Which helps explain why Johnson was MIA for today’s grand opening of Fast and Furious: Supercharged, a new attraction at Universal’s Florida park that was inaugurated by Diesel, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster, and Tyrese Gibson, and chronicled on their social media.

Even without arguably its biggest personality — and in the face of less than stellar early reviews — the event proved a joyous one, as evidenced by the clip from Today in which an enthusiastic Diesel shows off some of the cars (from the actual films) that will be a part of the ride.

Diesel also reveals he “just got off the phone with Justin Lin, who is directing Fast 9 and Fast 10, and I can’t tell you how excited he is.” The franchise mastermind also teases that Africa could be the setting for one of the upcoming films. But with the release far down the road, fans will have to make do with the new ride to get their fix of automotive mayhem.